


Close Call

by queerofthedagger



Series: Chasing Stars - A Series of Jegulus One-Shots [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon-Typical Violence, Fix-It, M/M, Pre-Slash, Regulus Black Lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-17
Updated: 2019-10-17
Packaged: 2020-12-21 06:09:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21070157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queerofthedagger/pseuds/queerofthedagger
Summary: James didn't expect to find Regulus Black pacing in front of his and Sirius' flat at 3 am. After all, they're in the middle of a war, on opposing sides, and Regulus shouldn't even know where they live.What he expected even less was finding himself on top of a cliff towering over the ocean, after following Regulus unnoticed. It only gets worse from there (before it gets better).





	Close Call

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, I wanted to do some short stuff and got a Prompt on tumblr from a prompt list, that said: "You caught me doing something dangerous and flipped out."  
Let's just say it's not as short as I expected and I might have just written a prequel to something that now wants to be written. So yes, this is most lileky not the end of this. 
> 
> There's some swearing in here, so if that's not your cup of tea...

James isn’t sure what woke him up and he tiredly rubs his eyes, groaning when his gaze falls onto the clock next to his bed. It’s three am and he has to get up in four hours for Auror training.

Rolling around and burying himself under his blanket doesn’t help though, so after another ten minutes, he gets up and quietly walks into the small kitchen. The flat is dark, only the streetlamps from outside spending a faint light, and he can hear Sirius snoring softly from his room.

He casts a Silencing Charm before turning on the kettle, not inclined to get cursed for waking Sirius up as well. When his tea is ready, he settles himself on the broad windowsill, pulling his knees to his chest and balancing his hot mug on them.

He leans his head against the cold glass and watches the drizzling rain, only visible against the yellow lights, and how the shadows flicker over the wet cobblestone street. A movement in the corner of his eye catches his attention and he turns his head a bit.

Someone is slowly walking down the pavement in front of their building and he can’t be sure if that are robes or just a coat. Glad that he didn’t turn on any lights he keeps watching and frowns when the figure comes to a halt, staring at the front door of their apartment complex.

On the one hand, it’s London; it could be any drunk or confused idiot, maybe even some tourist who got lost after one too many beers and doesn’t remember where his hostel is. On the other hand, they’re in the middle of a war and people in dark robes are rarely a good sign, these days.

He bites at his bottom lip and drums his fingers against his mug, pondering what to do. If he wakes up Sirius and it’s nothing, he’s not going to hear the end of it for days to come, but if he doesn’t take a look, he’ll never be able to go back to sleep, anyway.

Sighing, he slowly stands up and when he’s out of range from the window, quickly walks into his room, throws on a jumper, some sweatpants, a coat, and his boots, and then grabs his Invisibility Cloak.

He takes another look out of the window on his way to the front door, his suspicion increasing when the same figure is still pacing.

He silences his steps and carefully slips out of the door, walking down the stairs and takes the exit at the back of the house, his wand held tightly in his hand.

Walking around the building complex takes longer than he likes, but when he comes out a few houses down, he instantly sees that the same person is still standing there, staring at the front door once again.

His heart is beating wildly in his chest and he slowly creeps closer, despite his Cloak keeping to the shadows. He might be a good duellist and whoever that is appears to be alone, but if he learned one thing since he left school, it’s that he should never overestimate himself.

Still, he nearly stumbles and crashes into the dumpster at the side of the street when he’s finally close enough to make out a face under the hood, only a few feet away.

His first thought is that it has to be Sirius, the shoulder-length black hair and distinct, aristocratic features, but it’s gone as soon as it came. Sirius is taller and filled out a lot since they started Auror Training – not to mention that he knows that Sirius is currently asleep.

Which leads him to the question of what in Merlin’s name Regulus is doing here, pacing in front of their flat when he shouldn’t even know where they live, at 3 am, after years of no contact between him and Sirius. At least as far as James is aware, and he’s rather sure that Sirius would have told him.

Shaking his head to refocus, he takes a second, closer look at Regulus who is once again standing still, staring at the door. He looks tired, exhausted really, and his hands are balled into fists and trembling slightly at his sides. Despite his thick cloak, he appears to be even thinner than James remembers, but then again, being a Death Eater is probably not the healthiest way of living.

Hell, fighting in a war isn’t, James would know.

Regulus clenches his eyes shut and heaves a sigh before turning away from the door, one of his hands running through his hair under the hood, a gesture James is still familiar with from school. (Not that he often watched Regulus in his last year. Not at all.)

With a start, James realises that Regulus is going to leave. He stamps down his first impulse of calling for him to stay, instead going with the second, which is to throw a Tracking Charm at him.

The whole situation is utterly strange, and he’s not going to let him leave and forget about it. First of all, it’s worrisome that he knows where they live, considering the whole Death Eater thing and all that. Then, if it’s not about that, there’s still no explanation for stalking out their flat in the middle of the night and looking so miserable that James' mother would try to serve him some tea and biscuits, at the very least.

Alright, and his natural curiosity just demands him to find out, he always had a bit more than a basic interest in Regulus, but that’s really beside the point here.

Regulus throws one last look over his shoulder, his face illuminated by the nearest streetlamp and his expression more desperate than James has ever seen it. He nearly forgets his conviction of keeping himself hidden in the face of it, but before he can react, Regulus apparates away, the pop too loud in the otherwise silent street.

He stays where he is, rolling his wand between his fingers and staring at the spot where Regulus vanished.

He should probably wake up Sirius, but something tells him not to and he knows his gut rarely leads him wrong. He waits a few minutes during which he tries to convince himself that following the Tracking Spell could literally lead him into a nest of Death Eaters, but it’s rather unsuccessful.

When the feeling of urgency threatens to overwhelm him, he closes his eyes, focusing on the pull within him, and apparates.

He keeps his eyes closed for a few seconds after landing, staying as still as possible and just listens to his surroundings. But there’s nothing except for the whistling wind and… waves?

He frowns and opens his eyes, taking in the view of cliffs and countryside and a raging ocean which really doesn’t help his confusion. At least, there is nobody around as far as he can tell. The sky is clear here, contrary to London, and the moon is hanging low, nearly full, and thankfully spending some much-needed light.

It’s not enough that he can be sure that nobody hides in the group of trees further down, but he doesn’t have to light his wand or completely rely on his other senses to move. If he were here for different reasons, it would be beautiful; the restless waves crashing against rough cliffs, with the light of the moon and some scattered stars reflecting in the ink-black water.

He takes a few steps, careful not to slip on the soaked ground and wondering if his spell might have gone wrong, when his eyes fall on a dark figure standing a few hundred feet beneath him on a high boulder, surrounded by water and the wind ripping around the dark cloak.

“What in Godric’s name,” he mutters to himself, certain that he won’t be heard over the howling storm.

He blinks, and Regulus is gone. It takes him way too long to reach the conclusion that he must have jumped into the water and he curses under his breath, not stopping to question if apparating onto the same boulder really is a good idea.

He nearly loses his balance but is already frantically scanning the surface of the water, all the while trying to come up with a single reason for Regulus to be here, to do something so utterly stupid.

He breathes in relief when he sees Regulus pull himself up at the entrance of what has to be a cave not too far away, not that it helps with his non-existent theories, or any idea what he’s supposed to do.

He doubts that it would be smart to be discovered even now, so he waits nearly 10 minutes until he follows him.

He stuffs his Invisibility Cloak into a pocket and grits his teeth before he jumps into the water, vowing to hex Regulus for whatever this is, at some point. He doesn’t even know for sure why he’s still following, what exactly he expects to happen – it’s likely that it’s some strange mission for Voldemort, who knows what the maniac has his little followers do, but it’s not like lack of logic ever really stopped him.

As soon as he reaches the gap in the cliff and pulls himself out of the water, he shoots a few Drying and Warming charms at himself, before pulling his Cloak out again.

After walking for a few minutes, the narrow tunnel opens into a small cave. There’s still a faint bulb of light hovering under the high ceiling, throwing flickering shadows over the still surface of the water that make the whole setting rather eerie.

There’s no sign of Regulus and, for the first time, James wonders if this might be some elaborate trap, but disregards the thought quickly. It’s way too complicated and involves too many chances for that – there’s no way anybody could have counted on him waking up at 3 am, discovering Regulus on their front door and then following him, after all. At least he hopes so.

Scanning the cave once again, his eyes fall onto a small archway and he sighs. This feels more and more like a scavenger hunt, just lacking the actual fun part of it.

It’s silent in here, too silent, and he carefully walks along the rough wall until he reaches the archway, his wand ready in his hand and his heart racing in his chest. Maybe he really shouldn’t have gone alone, without anyone knowing where he is, but it’s far too late to change that, now.

No matter why Regulus is here, there’s a foreboding sense of dread that only intensifies the further he goes.

He slowly steps through the entrance, only to look over an even bigger cave. There’s another light under the ceiling, washing the vast room in ghostly colours, but his focus is on the boat that is close to the small island in the middle of the lake.

Regulus sits crouched, his shoulders are hunched and it’s so untypical for him that it sticks out to James, even with it being years since they saw each other.

He sighs and walks around the shore, searching if there’s any other way across, when the light reflects on a grey spot just under the surface. He stops in his tracks, his mouth suddenly dry as suspicion takes hold of him and he slowly crouches down, only to nearly jump back when he’s confronted with an actual face, empty eyes staring right through him.

Merlin, but this could be right out of the worst nightmare. Bile rises in his throat and he has to swallow a few times to keep it down, to force himself to not turn on his heel and run. Maybe ask Sirius for a strong Obliviate.

He closes his eyes for a moment and stands back up, vowing to not look into the water again. He’s pretty sure that a lake full of Inferi is enough confirmation that this is connected to Voldemort in some way and he stubbornly ignores the feeling of disappointment with Regulus, instead focusing on the hope that this might be a useful lead for their side.

He contemplates leaving when a loud, pained groan echoes through the cave. He whips his head around, eyes landing on Regulus who’s standing bend over a basin in the middle of the island, his whole body so obviously shaking that James can see it from where he’s standing.

He watches, frozen to his spot, as Regulus lifts something to his lips, drinking, and startles violently when a croaky, second voice speaks up. “Kreacher is being so sorry, but Master has to, Kreacher promised,” interrupted by now outright crying and begging from Regulus.

His thoughts are racing, he can’t make sense of anything he’s witnessing and his heart clenches with every sob and every spasm of Regulus’ body who by now sits on the floor, curled up in himself.

“Please, please no more, I can’t, please –“ the words are thrown around the stone walls, their echo imprinting itself into James’ mind, and he absent-mindedly notices that he’s shaking as well.

“Just one more, Master,” the elf sobs, continuing to give Regulus what has to be some kind of potion.

A blood-curling scream finally startles James out of his stupor, only for him to realise that he can’t do anything. There’s no way for him to get to that island and as horrible as this is to watch, he’s pretty sure that if he reveals himself right now, he’d probably be in big trouble.

He’s not stupid enough to underestimate house-elves, and while he’s not so convinced anymore that this is a mission from Voldemort, everything else makes even less sense. Maybe it’s some fucked up punishment and the whole thing is monitored, maybe it’s a test for something – either way, he doesn’t know what he’s supposed to do.

Everything in him is screaming to do something, Regulus is begging and crying the elf to stop, repeating over and over that he’s sorry, to please not hurt him, to _just stop,_ and James can feel tears running down his own face.

He might not have been close to Regulus, but he wouldn’t want to see anyone suffering like this, and the distress of the elf only confuses him more.

After what seems like an eternity, the elf retrieves something out of the basin and puts something else inside, and then proceeds to hug Regulus, clinging to him while they’re both sobbing – and then he just pops away, leaving Regulus there, a broken heap on the floor.

James furiously rubs his eyes, disbelieving, when he sees Regulus move.

“Fuck,” he curses under his breath, pulling the cloak away before he can think about it. “Accio boat,” he shouts, overpowering the spell so much that the little, wooden thing shoots over the water.

He only just manages to slow it down before it shatters on the stones and jumps inside, his eyes never leaving Regulus who’s still crawling forward.

He’d shout at him to stop if he thought it would help, but the last remaining rationality he possesses tells him that he most likely wouldn’t hear him anyway and that it would only serve to pull attention if anybody is watching.

He’s only halfway across the lake when Regulus reaches the water and he watches in horror as arms reach out, more and more Inferi pulling themselves up onto the island, grabbing for Regulus’ limp body.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, Inferi, how do I…” he mumbles to himself, trying to remember what Moody told them. He knows they covered this but he’s so frantic it takes him way too long to remember.

“Incendio!” he shouts as soon as he does, but he’s too sloppy and still too far away for it to have any real effect.

He can’t even see Regulus anymore and panic is threatening to overwhelm him, but he clenches his eyes shut for a second, taking a deep breath and gathering himself.

“Incendio!” he tries again, putting as much power into it as he can muster, and this time it’s effective, flames shooting far and high from his wand. He focuses, directing them around the island and clearing the path so the boat can pass the remaining distance.

He jumps out before he’s there, ignoring the few hands that make a grab for his ankles. Most of them retreated under his onslaught of flames and he frantically scans the island for Regulus.

He can’t see him and already feels his heart sink, when a few bubbles of air appear on the surface of the water in front of him.

He curses once more, adds a “Sorry, Regulus, but hurt is better than dead,” for good measure and casts, “Accio, Regulus.”

He holds his breath, the few seconds it takes until a body shoots out of the water, barrelling into him with so much force that he falls. He grunts at the impact but ignores the pain in his back, hands scrambling and pulling him close, relieved to find that it’s a _warm_ body with a pulse.

He’s crying and laughing, but the sound of water lapping against stone quickly pulls him out of it. He carefully pushes Regulus next to him, observing the deceptively calm surface of the water and then the shore at the other end.

But there’s nobody and a quick glance at Regulus tells him that he’s unconscious, which, as cruel as it sounds, might be the best for now.

His whole body hurts and he can feel the drain from his overpowered spells, but he pulls himself up and levitates Regulus into the boat first, before crouching down next to him.

The water stays calm and the cave is silent, but he barely keeps himself from fidgeting, instead occupying himself with keeping a close record of Regulus’ pulse. It’s beating steadily under his fingertips, albeit maybe a bit weak, but the fact alone that it’s still there and that he can feel it manages to keep him seated.

Thinking about everything he witnessed, he comes to the conclusion that it’s unlikely to have been on Voldemort’s orders; the only reasonable explanation would’ve been punishment, but he’s pretty sure someone would have stopped him from intervening, then.

That still doesn’t answer what in Merlin’s name Regulus thought he was doing – if James hadn’t been there, he’d be dead now. The thought alone makes his heart clench and his breath stutter.

He remembers that the elf left with whatever was in the basin, the ridiculously well-protected basin – did Regulus _steal_ something? But that makes as little sense as everything else, and he’s slowly getting a headache from all those theories that are leading him nowhere.

Their way after reaching the shore is slow-going, at best. He carefully levitates Regulus in front of him, but that only works until they reach the exit. He just stares at the still raging ocean for a few moments, the sound too loud after the unnatural stillness, and wonders if he should risk apparating from here.

He quickly dismisses the thought – there have to be wards, and at best he’s only going to splinch them if he tries; he doesn’t want to consider the other possibilities.

He sighs, resigning himself to doing this the Muggle way. At least he only has to swim a few hundred feet until he can apparate them to the top of the cliff.

Casting a Bubblehead Charm on both of them, he ends the levitation and hugs an arm around Regulus’ chest and slowly, very slowly fights his way through the crashing waves. He’s nearly at the boulder from where it all went south when he risks the Apparation, losing his balance as soon as they land.

Regulus lies half on top of him but he’s too exhausted to move and, if he’s honest, the breathing weight is rather reassuring right now, the knowledge that he’s _still_ _alive_.

He stays still for what feels like minutes, trying to regain some strength in his heavy limbs, until Regulus’ coughing makes him move and he carefully rolls him on his side.

He crouches next to Regulus and casts Drying charms at both of them, followed by a Rennervate.

The coughing gets worse, so he casts a few Anapneo’s for good measure, and then watches silently when Regulus finally blinks his eyes open. It takes a long time for the recognition to come, so much so that he’s already fearing that the horrid potion might have done some lasting damage.

It’s ironic that Regulus flinching away from him is as close to relief as he’s going to get. “What – “ he croaks, panic entering his eyes and he tries to scramble away from James without any success.

“It’s alright, I’m not here to harm you,” he says as softly as he can manage. He’d really like to pull him close to make that more obvious, but he doubts it would have that effect.

“You – what?” Regulus croaks again, followed by another coughing fit and James sighs, conjuring a goblet and filling it with some water.

“Here, drink that, I doubt that Inferi-polluted water is all that healthy for you.” When Regulus hesitates, he rolls his eyes. “Honestly, do you think I go through the trouble of rescuing you, only to poison you afterwards?!”

Regulus keeps staring at him, but eventually props himself up on his elbows and slowly takes the goblet.

Silence hangs heavy between them and James stares at the ground in front of him. What exactly do you say, after saving the little brother of your best friend from certain death, who’s fighting at the opposite side of a war? His emotions are all over the place and he has no idea what they’re supposed to do now.

“What are you doing here?” Regulus asks quietly, and somehow, for whatever twisted reason, that sets off a sudden rage within him that he can’t suppress.

“What am I doing here? What the fuck Regulus, _what am I doing here?_ Saving your sorry ass! For Merlin’s sake, what were you thinking?! What did you expect would happen, drinking that bloody potion in a lake surrounded by Inferi? Why did that elf just leave you?! Why –“ he breaks off, realising he’s shouting and that tears are burning in his eyes.

He rubs at them with his sleeves and glares at Regulus, who’s still more lying down than anything else and looks rather taken aback by his outburst.

Apparently noticing the same thing, Regulus struggles to sit up, avoiding to look at him. He links his fingers together and sighs. “You shouldn’t have,” he says, as if it were that simple, as if him dying in that cave that is definitely going to give James nightmares for a long time is what he expected from the very start.

And maybe it is, James thinks, and the truth of it makes cold dread coil in his stomach. He takes a deep breath, clinging to his last strength to not start shouting again. “Regulus, what were you doing here? It wasn’t a mission, it wasn’t a punishment, and your elf left with something.”

Regulus stays silent, his lips pressed into a thin line and his eyes fixed resolutely on his hands.

He ponders threatening him, taking him to the DMLE or calling a life debt, but he doubts it’s going to help him. “Come on, please tell me? You know, I might be able to help you,” he tries instead.

A harsh, bitter laugh is his answer, the sound so hollow and desperate that it hurts to just hear it. But Regulus finally meets his eyes, shaking his head. “You were always too noble, James Potter. You shouldn’t be here, you only put yourself in way too much danger.”

Grinding his teeth against the renewed flickers of rage, he grinds out, “It’s not like this whole war doesn’t, already. I swear to Merlin, if –“

Regulus sighs again, holding his hands up in a gesture of defeat. “Alright, alright, it’s not like it matters anymore, you already know too much, anyway. I found out what the Dark Lord did to achieve immortality –“

James chokes, the idea alone so horrible that he can’t comprehend it, but the glare from Regulus is enough that he keeps his mouth shut.

“He… It’s incredibly dark magic, so dark not even my family would ever touch it. Oh don’t look at me like that, there are lines even the worst of us wouldn’t cross. Anyway, I found out because he used Kreacher to hide it. I…” he trails off, looking uncomfortable or well, more than he already did.

James stays silent, guessing that trying to push would do him as little good as it generally does with Sirius, not that he’d tell that either of them.

“I… The whole Death Eater thing, I didn’t… I don’t want to do it anymore and this… It was like the final straw. I’m… or well,” he glares at James again who fights very hard to suppress his smile. “I _was_ the only one who knew about this because he thought Kreacher died, so I decided to steal it and let Kreacher destroy it.”

“So you really expected to die, you… did you _want_ to die?!” he presses out, only just keeping himself from shaking him, or shouting, at least.

Regulus' head flies up and he scowls, but it’s tense and twisted and he looks like he barely prevents himself from crying. “Of course not, fuck, I didn’t want _any_ of this, I just, you don’t –“ he chokes, pressing a hand against his mouth, his shoulders shaking.

Before he knows what he’s doing, he pulls him into a hug, the angle awkward but it doesn’t matter. For a moment, Regulus tenses, but then a sob escapes him and suddenly he’s clinging to James, fingers clenching in his coat and choked sobs wracking his body. It’s like he can’t stop, now that he started.

James only holds him more tightly, his head resting on Regulus’ and his mind still trying to comprehend the last hour or two, or however long this whole odyssey lasted.

“It’s alright, hey, we’ll find a way –“

The same bitter laugh interrupts him, but Regulus doesn’t let go, his words muffled, “You don’t quit the Death Eaters, James, much less betray the Dark Lord. I would have rather died in that bloody cave than being murdered personally.”

“You won’t,” he insists, refusing to believe anything else. “Believe me, I didn’t save you just so that bastard can destroy all the effort. You know, it was pretty hard work getting you out of there.”

Regulus laughs again and it sounds a little less broken, so James counts it as a win.

They stay like this for a long time, until James can’t feel his legs anymore and they’re both shivering violently from the unforgiving wind.

“Come on, we should go home. It’s late, or well, early, and Sirius is going to be worried if he wakes up and I’m gone,” he mutters, trying to convince himself as much as Regulus.

Regulus tenses at the mention of Sirius, and if he’s honest, James has no idea how Sirius is going to react to any of this, but it’s not like Regulus has anywhere else to go. Or like he’s going to let him out of his sight any time soon if he can help it.

“I don’t think – “

“Sorry to be frank, but I think our flat is the safest bet you currently have. Sirius will be fine,” he insists, hoping that it will be true. Eventually, if nothing else.

Sighing, Regulus nods against his shoulder, and James slowly disentangles himself, standing up. He winces at the crack in his knees and decides that he’s definitely not going to attend training today.

“Ready?” he asks when Regulus is standing next to him, and at his nod, apparates them both into the backyard of the house.

“Are you sure Sirius is not going to curse me the second he sees me?” Regulus asks dryly while they’re walking up the stairs.

James shakes his head and throws a grin over his shoulder, more pleased than he cares to admit that Regulus is already close to joking. “No idea, I’d suggest keeping your wand ready,” he pauses, turning a bit to look at him. “You do still have your wand, right?!”

Regulus nods and appears like he wants to say something, but stays quiet. James lets it be, taking the last few steps and opens the door carefully.

It’s rather useless, seeing that Sirius is standing in the doorway to their kitchen, his arms crossed over his chest and a crease between his brows.

His stern glare slips as soon as he sees Regulus and James has the rare pleasure of witnessing Sirius looking completely shocked and out of his depth, his mouth hanging open slightly and his eyes wide.

“Found your brother, we have to take him in for a while,” he says light-heartedly, but then sobers quickly. “Let’s make some tea and we’ll explain, alright? It’s a rather…” he hesitates, unwilling to give Sirius the chance to make a pun, now of all times. “Important matter,” he finishes lamely.

He’s too tired to care though and Sirius seems to pick up on the solemn mood and their tiredness, just nodding and moving into the kitchen.

“You want some fresh clothes? Drying Charms are all well and good but, well, that lake…” he offers and Regulus looks so grateful that his heart clenches a bit. Merlin, but if it would have been him in that lake, he might have burned his clothes as soon as he got out.

He hands him some sweatpants and a jumper before leaving to change in the bathroom, uncertain just how much space and discretion Regulus might need.

When he enters the kitchen, he stumbles slightly, utterly unprepared for the sight of Regulus in Muggle clothes. _His_ Muggle clothes. It shouldn’t be this… endearing, and he puts his suddenly dry mouth resolutely down to the stress of the night.

Sirius puts three mugs onto the table and as soon as they all sit down, looks at them expectantly, one brow raised in that demanding manner James envies way too often. He’s rather surprised that Sirius kept his silence for as long as he did, he wouldn’t have put it past him to still be shouting at this point, but he probably should have given him a bit more credit.

Seeing that he took the whole ‘bringing Regulus into their flat’- thing a lot better than James anticipated, he gets on with a summary of the night quickly, from the point when he woke up over following Regulus to the cave, to pulling him out of the bloody lake and Regulus explanation. 

If the matter was less serious, the development of Sirius’ expression from angry to disbelieving, to worried to downright horrified would have been comical. In the end, Sirius just gets up and hugs Regulus tightly and for a long time, who looks more surprised than he probably should.

It’s only now that James remembers how devastated and closed off Sirius has been when he found out that Regulus joined Voldemort; his brother has always been a sensitive topic since he moved in with James, but it became much worse after that. He even remembers thinking that Sirius cares a lot more about Regulus than he admits, but somehow, that got lost over the last few hours. Which, really, is rather justified as far as he is concerned and doesn’t matter all that much.

Sirius hugs him as well, and the muttered “Thank you,” is so choked up that James nearly starts crying again. Shit, but he’s bloody exhausted and rattled from the whole thing.

When Sirius has sat back down and gathered himself, he takes a deep breath and says, “Alright, obviously, you’re going to stay here for now, but in the long run, this isn’t safe for any of us. You can’t go back to our parents, but we should find something we can ward better. Everything else, we can discuss when you two slept. You look dead on your feet.”

Both him and Regulus wince at the phrase and Sirius looks confused for all of a second before he grimaces as well. “Sorry, bad choice of words. Anyway, Reg you can have my bed, I need to get to work anyway. I’ll tell Moody you're ill, if it’s only one of us missing he’s more likely to buy it.”

James nods gratefully, too tired to say much more or to even marvel at how easily Sirius slips into planning mode. He would have expected a bit more… he doesn’t know, confusion, disbelief, maybe? Either way, he’s glad that Sirius takes it in stride and decides to worry about everything else after he slept.

He lets Regulus take the first shower, quietly talking with Sirius in the kitchen who asks a few more questions but appears to be mostly relieved how everything turned out, and maybe also still a bit overwhelmed with his brother turning sides so thoroughly.

When Regulus disappeared into Sirius’ room, he takes a quick, hot shower that dispels the last, lingering coldness and then falls into his bed, trying to keep his mind away from the images of the night as best as he can.

He’s just drifting off, revelling in the warmth of his covers when he hears his door creak open. Expecting it to be Sirius, he just shuffles a bit to the side, keeping his eyes closed.

“James?”

That’s not Sirius’ voice. He slowly blinks his eyes open and reaches for his glasses, frowning when Regulus comes into focus. “Are you alright?” he asks when he notices the tremble of his hands and his red-rimmed eyes, sitting up a bit.

Regulus looks utterly uncomfortable but shakes his head. “It’s just, I – “

“As soon as you close your eyes, you feel like you’re back there?” he asks softly, having suffered the same issue when he had just laid down. He can take a good guess that it has to be a hundred times worse for Regulus.

Regulus sighs and nods. “I mean it’s stupid, it’s not like I’m ten anymore but – “

James smiles a bit and shifts closer to the wall. “Don’t worry about it. You can sleep here if you want, the bed is big enough.” At Regulus' still tense expression he rolls his eyes fondly. “Honestly, you’re just going to drop where you stand if you don’t sleep soon, and company helps.”

“Yeah, alright, thanks…” Regulus murmurs, lying down next to him but carefully keeping some space between them.

He’s rather surprised if he’s honest, having expected Regulus to be, well… too proper to ever consider doing something like this, but then again, defecting, betraying the Dark Lord and a near-death experience is probably the safest way to shake you up a bit.

It doesn’t take him long to fall asleep but when he startles awake, it feels like no time has passed at all. Images and sounds of his muddled dreams are still fresh on his mind, imprints of Regulus’ screams and the grey faces of hundreds of Inferi, and his heart is pounding painfully fast in his chest.

Before he can start to panic though, he notices the heavy warmth pressed against him and forces himself to focus, only slowly comprehending that it’s Regulus who’s curled against him, his head tucked into the crook of James’ neck and one arm thrown over his stomach.

It calms him down faster than he cares to admit, even coaxing a small smile out of him and he exhales slowly, turning a bit to pull him closer. For a while, he only watches the steady rise and fall of his chest and concentrates on the feeling of having him here, alive and well, and the knowledge that he and Sirius are going to make sure that it stays that way.

And everything else, well. They will see, but he takes the current position they’re in as a good sign.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did writing it, I'd be happy if you let me know! (I always thought Regulus should have had a different ending, and I love him enough to create it in as many different ways as I can come up with.) 
> 
> Also, you can find my tumblr [here.](https://queenofthedagger.tumblr.com/) Say hi, send me prompts, it's full of HP stuff. <3
> 
> Thanks for reading! <3


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